Peñarol Defeat Selknam for SLAR 2022 Glory

Peñarol are the 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) champions. The Uruguayans defeated Selknam 24-13 in the final in Montevideo on Friday evening. The win came with a strong start, one that gave them a commanding lead before Selknam clashed back to make it into a genuine contest.

Before the came had even started, the occasion was historic; Argentina’s hegemony has ended. Teams from Uruguay and Chile contested the SLAR 2022 Final. Both were unbeaten vs Los Jaguares XV in 2022.

The Uruguayans were eleven point winners and outscored the Chileans by two tries to one. Peñarol’s impressive first quarter had them leading 18-0 at the end of the first quarter. Eric Dosantos scored an early try after Selknam could not take an up-and-under while SLAR 2022 MVP, Manuel Ardao went into the try zone in the 20th minute.

Peñarol appeared home and dry, but were they? Selknam responded without panicking. They opened their account in the 24th minute. Francisco Urroz landed a penalty; the only score of the half for the Chileans.

The Uruguayans were not spreading the ball. They used their big men to run before looking to recycle again and again. It had worked for most of the first half and left Selknam with lots of tackling to do; the fetches were nullified.

The half-time siren went with Peñarol ahead 21-3. This happened following a drop-goal to Felipe Etcheverry. His strike gave both teams plenty to ponder during the interval.

Selknam needed to hit-back, but in a controlled manner. This came with Ignacio Silva opting for a penalty kick at goal rather than for the corner. Urroz made it 21-6.

The momentum was slowly changing; the Chileans were forcing the Uruguayans into making mistakes and were in control of territory. The pressure saw Nahuel Milán and Juan Echeverría both yellow carded. In between, good work from Selknam got them a penalty try.

Sometimes logic is not present on the rugby field. This was so when the 13-man Peñarol managed to not concede a point. Indeed, Selknam were unable to score again in the match. Etcheverry landed a late penalty to make it an eleven point lead.

Peñarol had won the battle and with it the SLAR trophy.

 

SCORING

PENAROL 24
Try – E Dosantos (9′), M Ardao (20′)
Con – F Etcheverry 1/2 (3′)
Pen – F Etcheverry 2/2 (10′, 77′)
DG – F Etcheverry 1/2 (40′)
YC – N Milán (57′), J Echeverría (61′)

SELKNAM 13
Try – Penalty Try (57′)
Pen – F Urroz 2/2 (24′, 47′)

TEAMS

PENAROL
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Nahuel Milán, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Bautista Basso, 14 Rodrigo Silva, 15 José Iruleguy

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Mathias Franco, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Nicolás Roger, 23 Mateo Viñals

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Augusto Sarmiento, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Gaspar Moltedo, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Luca Strabucchi, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Francisco Urroz

Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Vittorio Lastra, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Santiago Edwards, 21 Benjamín Videla, 22 Juan Zuccarino, 23 José Ignacio Larenas

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistants: Francisco González (Uruguay) & Frank Méndez (Chile)
TMO: Gonzalo De Achaval (Argentina)